Rankings: California is ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 16 in the USA Today Poll. Oregon State is not ranked

This Week's Game
California returns to Memorial Stadium this week to start its only two-game homestand of the season when the Golden Bears host Oregon State Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by ABC.
Cal, which saw its 12-game regular-season winning string end with a 47-40 loss at UCLA last weekend, still has a streak to defense this week, having prevailed in 10 consecutive home contests. The last setback was a 35-21 decision to Oregon State on Oct. 4, 2003.
In fact, the Bears have not defeated OSU in Berkeley since 1997 (33-14), although five of the seven ensuing games were played in Corvallis. Last fall, Cal snapped an overall five-game losing streak to the Beavers with a 49-7 rout on the road.

Despite surrendering 47 points to the Bruins, the Bears still lead the Pac-10 in three key defensive categories - total defense (306.33 ypg), scoring defense (16.67 ppg) and pass efficiency defense (97.56) - while ranking second in the league in rushing defense (105.00 ypg).
Cal has allowed just 23 points in three home contests so far this season and only 11.9 ppg during its current home win streak, which includes shutouts vs. Arizona State in 2004 and Arizona this past Oct. 1.

On the offensive side, the Bears are scoring 40.17 ppg - 11th in the country - and rate fifth in the nation in rushing at 271.17 ypg. Two Cal tailbacks are averaging more than 100 ypg, with sophomore Justin Forsett ninth in the NCAA with 123.00 ypg and sophomore Marshawn Lynch at 108.8 ypg. Both players reached triple digits on the ground at UCLA as Forsett gained 153 yards on only 10 carries and Lynch totaled 135 yards on 22 attempts.

Since assuming the starting role in Game 2 at Washington, junior QB Joe Ayoob has completed 74-of-125 passes (59.2%) for 1,028 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Freshman WR DeSean Jackson, who had a career-high 10 catches for 128 yards at UCLA, leads the Bears with 24 catches for 318 yards and three scores, while sophomore WR Robert Jordan has hauled in 20 passes for 322 yards and four TDs.

A Quick Look at Oregon State
Oregon State, which is coming off a bye week, is off to a 3-2 start to the season, most recently defeating Washington State, 44-33, Oct. 1. Behind the combination of QB Matt Moore and WR Mike Hass, the Beavers have the fifth-most prolific passing offense in the country, averaging 347.00 ypg. Hass leads the country in receiving yards (166.0 ypg) and ranks second in receptions per game (9.40). Moore has completed 122-of-212 passes for 1,570 yards and seven touchdowns.

Oregon State Head Coach Mike Riley
Mike Riley (Alabama `75) is in his third season of his second stint as head coach of the Beavers, having amassed a 26-26 record. Riley previously held the OSU head coaching position during the 1997 and 1998 seasons before taking the head job with the NFL's San Diego Chargers from 1999-01. During the 2002 season, he served as secondary coach for the New Orleans Saints. Riley began his coaching career as a graduate defensive assistant at Cal, where he helped the Bears claim a share of the 1975 Pac-8 title. After a one-year graduate assistantship at Whitworth College, he began a six-year tenure as defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Linfield College in 1977. Riley later assisted with Winnipeg of the CFL (1983-85), at Northern Colorado (1986) and at USC (1993-96). He was also head coach at Winnipeg from 1987-90 and with San Antonio of the World League from 1991-92.

Week Seven
The Cal Bears, now 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Pacific-10 play, return home for their next two games, beginning Saturday when the Oregon State Beavers visit Memorial Stadium. Kickoff time is set for 12:30 p.m. Following the Oregon St. game, the Bears host Washington State in Berkeley before taking their only off week of the season.

TV Land
California will be making its fourth straight television appearance this week with Saturday's game set for an ABC regional telecast. During the last three games the Bears have been featured on ESPN (New Mexico State) and TBS twice (Arizona and UCLA). Cal was featured on ABC in the 56-17 win at Washington and will return to the ABC air waves for the Big Game against Stanford on Nov. 19. The Bears will also play on national TV when Fox Sports Net broadcasts the Washington State contest at 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 22.

Bounce Back Time
California is coming off its first regular-season loss in 364 days (47-40 at UCLA) and its first loss of the 2005 season. Under Jeff Tedford, the Bears are 10-3 when coming off of a defeat. California has not lost two straight games since 2003 when it fell at home to Oregon State and then traveled to the Rose Bowl and dropped a 23-20 overtime decision to UCLA.

Streak Stoppers
California has not lost a home football game since Oct. 4, 2003, which is also the last time that Oregon State visited Berkeley. The Beavers were 35-21 winners over Cal just one week after the Bears' 34-31, triple-overtime win over No. 3 Southern California.

Since Then
Since the home loss to Oregon State in 2003, the Bears have reeled off 10 straight wins in Memorial Stadium. The home winning streak is the longest for the Bears since they won 21 straight home games during the 1948, 1949 and 1950 seasons.

Two To Get Started
California can actually look back at its two-game losing streak, at the hands of Oregon State and UCLA in 2003, to the start of something big. Since that abbreviated skid, the Bears have gone 20-4 and not suffered consecutive losses.

Polls Past
California enters the Arizona game ranked in the national polls for the 19th consecutive week, every week since the 2004 preseason poll. It is the longest such streak for the Bears since they entered the polls in the middle of the 1949 season and remained there until November of 1952 during the heyday of the Pappy Waldorf era. That streak included 36 straight appearances by the Bears as a ranked team. California's last appearance as a non-ranked team came Dec. 26, 2003, in the Insight Bowl. Cal won that game, 52-49.

Bearing The Success
Under Jeff Tedford, the Bears are now 15-4 when ranked in the nation's top 25. On the flip side, Cal is 5-4 against ranked opponents under their head coach, including a 3-3 record when facing a top 25 opponent on the road.

The Good Ol' Days
California's school-record, eight-game Pac-10 winning streak came to a nail-biting end Saturday night in the Rose Bowl, but the one loss doesn't damper Cal's recent success in the league. Since the beginning of the 2003 season, California easily has the second best record in Pac-10 Conference play. To the right is a quick look at the cumulative Pac-10 standings since the 2003 season.

B.T (Before Tedford)
Prior to the arrival of Jeff Tedford at Cal, the Pac-10 season was a difficult assignment for the Bears. The Bears struggled to a 5-35 conference record from 1997 through the 2001 season. In 2005, Cal is looking for its fourth straight upper-division finish in Pac-10 play.

Gold Rush
The Bears have won nine of their last 11 and 11 of their last 13 Pac-10 games. The impressive part of that record might be what preceded it. From 2000 through the 2002 league race, California was 5-19 against league foes, and that mark includes a 4-4 Pac-10 record in Jeff Tedford's first year in Berkeley.

UCLA Rewind
The Bears are coming off a head-scratching loss at UCLA. It was a game that saw California rush for 330 yards, outgain UCLA 545-395, hold a pair of double-digit leads, a 27-17 advantage in first downs, and go 7-for-7 in scoring opportunities in the red zone. At one point in the fourth quarter, Cal held a 171-13 advantage in second-half total offense. However, the Bears were counterpunched by five Maurice Drew touchdowns, including two in the final 95 seconds of the game. Drew was limited to just 65 rushing yards on 13 carries but scored on a punt return and set up a four-yard TD drive on another return.

The Orange Challenge
Oregon State will bring a high-powered air attack to California this week. The Beavers are fifth nationally in passing offense with an average of 347 yards per game and rank 21st in total offense (439.0 yards per game). They feature Mike Hass, whose 9.4 receptions per game lead the Pac-10 and rank second in the country and his 166.2 receiving yards per game average is the best in America. Hass is 10th nationally in all-purpose yards (168.8 per game).

OSU Watch
California will enter Saturday's game looking to defeat Oregon State in consecutive seasons for the first time since winning in 1997 and 1998. The Beavers have won their last two games in Memorial Stadium, dating back to Cal's 33-14 win over Oregon State in 1997. Jeff Tedford is 1-2 vs. Oregon State. Cal, however, is coming off of a 49-7 win last year in Corvallis. That point total was the most by the Bears against the Beavers since 1975. Prior to last year's victory, Oregon State had defeated the Bears in five straight meetings.

Two If By Land
Led by a two-headed tandem at running back and an offensive line that rivals America's best, the Cal Bears continued their 2005 ground assault at UCLA. The Bears had a pair of 100-yard rushers in Justin Forsett (10-158) and Marshawn Lynch (22-135) in Pasadena and gained 330 rushing yards against the Bruins. After averaging just 87 rushing yards against the Bruins in the previous four meetings, Cal banged up the UCLA defense for a combined 620 yards in 2004 and 2005.

Making A Mark
The 330 rushing yards in the Rose Bowl were the most by the Bears against a Pac-10 opponent since Cal ran for 381 yards against Washington in 2003.

Century City
Cal is growing somewhat accustomed to having two players reach triple digits in rushing. While the UCLA game marked the first time two players reached 100 yards rushing in a game this season, the Bears accomplished the feat in consecutive games last season when J.J. Arrington and Marshawn Lynch both reached 100 yards against Washington and Stanford.

The Other Side Of The Offense
While Jeff Tedford is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading developers of quarterbacks, his teams are actually remarkably balanced. Despite producing a pair of first-round draft choices at quarterback during his years at Berkeley, Tedford's offenses have developed into one of the nation's best at running the ball. To the left is a glance at Cal's growing rushing prowess under Tedford.

The Top Five
California enters the Oregon State contest as the nation's fifth leading rushing team with an average of 271.2 yards per game. The Bears finished sixth nationally in that category last year with an average of 256.8 yards rushing per game.

Two For A Grand
With five games remaining in the regular season and a possible bowl waiting at the end of the year, it would not be a stretch for Cal to produce a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in 2005. It would mark the first time since 1990 that Cal featured a pair of 1,000-yard runners (Anthony Wallace, 1002, Russell White, 1000).